Cinemas

From a fifteen-screen multiplex with an IMAX hall to the oldest still-operating cinema in Poland, still showing films from 35 mm film reel: the Łódź region has a dense network of cinemas, with Łódź, a city of filmmakers, as the largest hub but far from the only one. This overview shows where to catch a big-screen premiere, where to find arthouse cinema without blockbusters, and which screens run in the region's smaller towns.

Where in the Łódź region is the cinema with the widest choice of screens?

Łódź has the most screens and the widest choice of showings - a full overview of Łódź cinemas, with addresses and screen types, is on the cinemas in Łódź page. Below are the multiplexes and arthouse cinemas worth knowing about across the whole region.

Cinema City at Manufaktura has fifteen screens, including IMAX and 4DX with moving seats, plus free parking for 3,000 cars. Kino Helios Łódź Sukcesja at the Sukcesja shopping and entertainment centre has nine screens, including two in Dream standard with leather seats and Dolby Atmos sound. Multikino on Piłsudskiego avenue has been running since 2001, now under the Vue chain, with ten screens in the Łódź Business Center, close to a tram hub in the city centre.

Where in Łódź to watch arthouse and festival cinema, not just premieres?

Kino Tatry on Sienkiewicza street has been running continuously since 1907 and is considered the oldest cinema in Poland: its 85-seat arthouse screen still shows films from 35 mm reel, alongside digital projection, seasonally during the summer months. Kino Charlie on Piotrkowska street, open since 1994, has five screens each with a different character, a cafe and a gallery, and has run its own European film festivals for years. The Łódź House of Culture houses two smaller arthouse screens: Kino Szpulka, with a tradition of over fifty years, and Kino Przytulne, a continuation of the former Kino Kameralne.

Cinema at a museum and a planetarium - unusual screening rooms

Kino Kinematograf operates inside the Museum of Cinematography, in the historic Scheibler Palace, and combines digital-projector screenings with shows from a rare, vintage Ernemann projector for 35 and 16 mm film. A few stops further, Planetarium EC1 in the EC1 Łódź complex shows the night sky and space presentations, aimed at both school groups and families. Both places are a good choice when you want something other than a classic film screening.

Łódź's film history at a single address

Hotel Stare Kino on Piotrkowska street is Poland's only cinema-themed hotel, set in an 1891 tenement house in whose courtyard the country's first permanent cinema opened in 1899. It does not sell tickets to screenings, but its 42 rooms each reference a specific film, so it is worth knowing as a curiosity on a walk tracing the history of Łódź cinemas.

Cinemas in the smaller towns of the Łódź region

Beyond Łódź, the cinema network mainly consists of Helios venues and screens at cultural centres. The Helios chain has multiplexes in Tomaszów Mazowiecki (Galeria Tomaszów, 4K projection; full list: cinemas in Tomaszów Mazowiecki), Bełchatów (Galeria Olimpia, a Dream screen with Dolby Atmos), Pabianice (Tkalnia Shopping Centre, Christie 4K projectors; see also cinemas in Pabianice) and Piotrków Trybunalski (cinemas in Piotrków Trybunalski), next to a go-kart track in the Belzacka district. Cinemas run by cultural centres operate in, among other places, Zduńska Wola (cinemas in Zduńska Wola) (a historic town hall, with a main hall and a small arthouse screen), Łowicz (on the site of the pre-war Kino EOS from 1912), Łęczyca, Radomsko and Pabianice, in a cinema running since 1926. In Aleksandrów Łódzki, after thirty years, Kino Spójnia has reopened, run by the team behind Łódź's Kino Charlie.

Cinema and theatre under one roof - cultural centres with a screening room

In several towns of the region, the cinema shares a building with a cultural centre and a theatre stage. This is the case for Kino-Teatr Syrena in Wieluń, run by the Wieluń House of Culture since 1962, Kinoteatr Polonez in Skierniewice, open since 1978 and drawing around 120,000 viewers a year, and the screening room of the Sieradz Cultural Centre. In Bełchatów, Kino Kultura belongs to the Municipal Cultural Centre and runs free summer screenings for residents. This model means the programme in smaller towns is narrower than in Łódź's multiplexes, but tickets are usually cheaper.

Open-air cinema and seasonal events

Kino na leżakach (Deckchair Cinema) in Tomaszów Mazowiecki is a recurring, free open-air summer film screening, held every season at a different spot in town. It is a good option if you are looking for an alternative to an indoor screen during the warm months.

Practical tips: tickets, parking and choosing a screen

At large multiplexes such as Cinema City or Helios, tickets are booked online, and special screens, IMAX, 4DX or Dream, are usually assigned only to selected, major premieres, so it is worth checking in advance which screen a given film is showing on. Arthouse cinemas, such as Charlie or Tatry, have a narrower programme but offer more screenings outside the mainstream circuit and events with filmmakers. Parking can be an issue only in the centre: at Manufaktura and Sukcesja the car parks are large and free, while for cinemas on Piotrkowska street it is better to rely on public transport. A cinema hall is a natural choice for a rainy afternoon, whether you are after a premiere or something more ambitious.

Frequently asked questions about cinemas in the Łódź region

Which cinema in the Łódź region is the oldest?
Kino Tatry in Łódź on Sienkiewicza street has been running continuously since 1907 and is considered the oldest operating cinema in Poland, still showing some screenings from 35 mm film reel.

Where in Łódź is there a cinema with an IMAX screen?
Cinema City at Manufaktura has an IMAX screen, one of just five such venues in Poland, alongside a 4DX screen with moving seats and environmental effects.

How does Kino Charlie differ from a multiplex?
Charlie is an arthouse cinema with a narrower, more ambitious programme, without current box-office hits, but with five screens each with a different character and its own film festivals.

Are there free open-air film screenings in Łódź?
Yes, the region runs open-air cinema series, such as Kino na leżakach in Tomaszów Mazowiecki, held seasonally during the warm months at a changing location.

Which cinema in Łódź has the largest free car park?
Cinema City at Manufaktura offers free parking for 3,000 cars, including a supervised zone, making it easy to arrive by car from outside the centre.

Are there cinemas in the smaller towns of the Łódź region?
Yes, the Helios chain has multiplexes in Tomaszów Mazowiecki, Bełchatów, Pabianice and Piotrków Trybunalski, and smaller screens operate at cultural centres in Zduńska Wola, Łowicz, Łęczyca, Radomsko, Sieradz and Wieluń.